Party poopers' petition
Question
I live in a flat with two other housemates. We have neighbours above, below and either side of us. At weekends we often have people staying with us and in the past have made noise until the early hours of the morning. The neighbours have only complained once through a formal letter to which we wrote a sincere apology to everyone in our block. We have now been told by one of our neighbours that they have got a petition together to get us evicted. Is this enough to get us thrown out?
Answer
It can be very worrying when you think you are going to be evicted. You don't say what type of tenancy you have. If you rent privately and your landlord does not live at the property you are likely to have an assured shorthold tenancy. If you think you might have another type of tenancy get advice from your local advice service.
Your neighbours can't evict you. Only you or your landlord can end your tenancy. If your neighbours know your landlord they can inform them of the situation. It is up to your landlord to decide if he will try and evict you. They might decide you're in breach of your tenancy agreement as a result of the noise and then take action to evict you.
If your landlord wants to evict you they have to follow the correct process, otherwise it could be classed as an illegal eviction. If you have a fixed term tenancy (for six months, or 12 months) your landlord will not be able to evict you during the fixed term unless your tenancy has a break clause. They could also evict you if they have grounds to do so, such as causing nuisance, but this is a discretionary ground.
For more information and advice, you can contact your local advice service.
Question answered by Shelter
